


Hidden Little Garden

by Grim_Perfectionist



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Little silly, exercise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 15:37:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18346601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grim_Perfectionist/pseuds/Grim_Perfectionist
Summary: An unknown crew of Silent World scouts and raiders decide to take the time to add a little color to a ruined city. Not strictly related to the main crew. Prompt: "a garden" or "the changing of seasons".





	Hidden Little Garden

Winter was ending, and our trip into the Silent World was ending with it. The trolls would be awake soon, and with them would come the disease and death that ended the old world. We had to be back home before that happened, hopefully still in one piece.  
  
Fortunately, that was still a worry for the future. The sky was bright and blue that day, sun high and keeping any lingering creatures at bay for the time being. We had time to wander and “relax” as much as you can out here. That’s when we found it, just a short walk to exercise our legs after an extended drive.

“Hey! Come look at this!”  
  
We had all come running at the cry of our scout, hoping for a bit of good fortune. The past week and a half had been bare of any results, and we were eager for something to report. What we found was an empty lot, tucked between the remains of a few much larger buildings. Most of the lot was empty dirt, but in a few places the early birds of spring plants poked out of the ground, roots and stems for now but eventually flowers and fruits. Our captain wasn’t too pleased with the waste of time, chastising the scout for leading us to an empty lot of all things, but the rest of us saw opportunity. We’d be back this way next year on the route back, and we’d all silently agreed to make the most of it.  
  
Next year’s expedition carried a few extra supplies: a bag of seeds here, a couple bulbs there, a handful of clippings in a bag tucked in a corner, that kind of thing. Ostensibly for botanical research, but the crew knew these samples were all earmarked for the lot.

We found it again in a similar condition and set to work through our entire rest day, digging holes and planting seeds. We chose hardy plants, flowers and grasses that would survive with minimal intervention, seeing as we wouldn’t be back until the next winter. There was something satisfying about the work. We wouldn’t see the results for a long while, but it felt good to plant something out here. A little bastion of humanity against the backdrop of destruction and decay.

Next year, we returned to a much greener lot. The grasses we had plant had sprung up in our absence and was just reawakening to the extended sunlit hours and lack of snow. A few harbingers of spring, small bundles of white flowers with burgundy anthers, had sprung up in anticipation of the coming weather. We made sure to take a few pictures of our achievement, took a few samples, and headed home. It was the last year we were taking that particular route, and we wanted to commemorate the small thing we’d done.

A few years later we got around to reclaiming the area. The team had mostly scattered to other projects at this point, and it was only sheer luck that I was on the squad assigned to that area. I was on the summer crew, coming in after the winter pass to make sure nothing survived and get rid of any straggling beasts. Rough work, but necessary to completely clear an area.

I’d forgotten all about the lot, frankly, until our scout reported something strange. This time when we followed his calls, we found a beautiful blooming flower garden, full of flowers and fruits alike. Dandelions, patches of violet fireweed, and bunches of purple lupine flowers splashed color across the scorched earth and stones alongside a carpet of green grasses ready for summer. Our little lot, once obscured by the surrounding buildings, had survived the winter cleansing and come back stronger than ever, overflowing its bounds and growing over the ruin and rubble surrounding it, an inexplicable lake of color in the wastes of the former city.  
  
While the others puzzled and pondered, I simply took a picture of the location and made a note to send copies to my former squadmates. Our little bastion of humanity, rediscovered, alive and well. Just like us, in some ways.

Just like us.


End file.
